Figure 2.

Effect of DRzs on the expression of IGF-IIP3 in SMMC-7721 cells.

Notes: (A) mRNA expression of IGF-IIP3 was significantly inhibited by DRzs. The cells received either no treatment or were transfected with 4 μg/mL (0.39 pmol/μL) DRz1, DRz2, or DRz1^inv. Data shown are means ± SD of relative IGF-IIP3 mrna expressed compared to control (no treatment) (n ≥3). *Significant difference to control (P < 0.05). (B) Protein expression of IGF-IIP3 was equally inhibited by both DRzs. IGF-IIP3 protein expression was quantified via densitometry and compared with the “no treatment” control. The maximal gray value was set to 1 and all other results were expressed relative to this value (black). Note that the 24-hour transfection with DRz1 exhibited the strongest reduction in IGF-IIP3 protein expression levels (n ≥3).

Abbreviations: DRz, deoxyribozyme (DNAzyme); DRz1^inv, inactive DRz; IGF-IIP3, insulin-like growth factor II promoter 3; mRNA, messenger RNA; SD, standard deviation.